


Poultice

by Anthropasaurus



Series: Drabbles [2]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, It's a pre-relationship little thing, Or Is he?, Poor Raven has chronic pain and Bull is just trying to help, Solas is realizing he needs to shit or get off the pot, she's not gonna wait around for forever boy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-13 18:37:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15370839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anthropasaurus/pseuds/Anthropasaurus





	Poultice

_Shit._ Raven mumbled a halfhearted excuse about a pebble in her foot wrap and plopped down on the nearest boulder. Ever since her hair rising rescue of Varric earlier that day her back had been screaming in protest with every step. It was an ache she was used to ignoring, and had been for the better part of a decade. But certain days she could not ignore the pain. On those days it seemed as if her spine was trying to claw itself out from the inside. No potion or spell was going to help with this. Her flask only did so much to dull the pain (though it was more of a she was too tipsy to notice or care), and it only had a finite amount of liquor. She had to be careful. If she drank it all now, there would be nothing to help dull the pain on the ride back to Skyhold.

“You alright boss?”

“Oh yes. I just have a pebble in my footwrap. I’ll catch up in a second.” She avoided his gaze, knowing he’d be able to see through her lie if he saw her face. Though she knew even if he didn’t see it, Bull would know she was full of shit.

“Uh huh….How bad is it today?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I just have a pebble in my wrap.” As if to prove her lie was not a lie and in fact the truth, she bent down to fish it out. But she bent down wrong and too fast, earning herself another bad spasm. _Shit_.

“Cut the crap boss. You’ve been fingering your flask for a few hours now. How bad is it?”

“No worse than usual. I’m just tired after fighting the dragon is all. I promise.”

He reached into a pocket and pulled out a familiar little container.

“Oh please no. I hate that stuff.” Raven tried to squirm away, but a firm hand on her shoulder kept her on the rock. “It tastes like shit.”

“Yeah, but it helps.” He knelt down in front of her, effectively blocking easiest escape route.

 

Her distressed grunt drew Solas’ attention away from the map and over to his other companions. “Is everything alright?”

“Everything is fine. Bull-“ Bull’s hand on her waist pulled her back down, and she landed with an undignified grunt. “Fenehidis Bull!”

“Is that really necessary?” Solas made to step in, but a hand from Bull stopped him in his tracks.

“We can either do this the hard way or the easy way, Boss.”

“How about neither?” She clamped her lips shut, making a thin line as she glared at Bull.

“Hard way it is then.” Keeping a firm grip on her hip, he set the container on his thigh and popped open the lid. Inside was a healthy amount of the poultice Stitches used to mend the Chargers. The very same poultice Bull was known to eat. It worked better that way. A poultice couldn’t get to the aches deep in the muscles, unless you ate it. He scooped up a healthy amount on two of his fingers and looked at Raven. “Last chance Boss.” She shirked away and emitted several animalistic grunts as Bull grabbed her nose and waited. She tried to fight it, but if she moved too much her piercings dug into her nose causing more pain than freedom. Unable to hold her breath any longer, she was forced to open her mouth. A quick swipe deposited the majority of the foul tasting paste inside her mouth. She choked and gagged, as she tried to breathe through the paste. He kept his fingers on her nose, forcing her to swallow the foul concoction.

“Was it necessary to shove your fingers in her mouth?” Solas asked. A feeling Solas hadn’t felt in ages crept into his stomach as he watched the two of him. He knew it for what it was, jealously. But to feel a twinge of it over something as simple as Bull helping Raven confused him more than anything. A myriad of thoughts twisted through his mind, the main focus on the relationship that seemed to have developed between Raven and Bull. He had only been gone a few weeks, surely that wasn’t enough time for them to grow this familiar with one another? But even as he tried to convince himself that he was right, a voice in the back of his head said otherwise.

“My thoughts exactly,” she grumbled through a mouthful of poultice. Her face was twisted in a sour expression as she tried to choke down the foul paste.

“It’s either this or she stumbles around drunk because she finished was little alcohol she has.” Bull leveled a look at Solas that clearly meant he was not going to continue arguing this. “Go let Varric know we’ll catch up once she’s finally finished all of it.”

 

“If you’re not careful, Tiny will sweep her off her feet before you make your move.”

“Pardon me?”

“You heard me,” Varric sniffed. “She’s not going to wait around for forever you know.”

Solas turned his attention back to the two in question. Raven was sputtering and glaring at Bull, while he looked down at her and chuckled. The familiar feeling crept back as he watched Bull reach down and wipe a bit of the poultice from the corner of her mouth. He had no claim to her, it was not his right. But part of him wanted to. The kiss was still fresh in his mind, even if had been over a month. In that short amount of time, he felt himself consumed by her passion. It clung to the edges of his dreams, taunting him with what he couldn’t have. But he wanted to be selfish.

 

Bull hung by her side the rest of the way to camp, physically blocking Solas from any attempt at talking to her. This was not the first time another suitor tried to block his advances. He knew how to wait for the perfect moment. He would let Bull have the day, but he was going to take the night.

 

He watched her knock her pipe of the side of the log before he made his way over to where she was seated. She sat on the ground, using the log as a sort of back rest. Every few minutes she would adjust how she was sitting and rub one spot on the small of her back. After the fifth or sixth time, Solas realized this was the source of her pain. “I did not realize you had back pains. If you had told me, I could have helped.”

“It’s not something that’s life or death Solas,” Raven shrugged. “I’m used to it. Ever since the accident in the tower it’s always been there. I just made the mistake of moving the wrong way today, when I saved Varric. I’m usually good at hiding when it hurts. But Bull can always seem to tell when it’s acting up. He tells me I get this funny half waddle when it’s really bad.” She chuckled and packed her pipe.

Solas watched her attempt and fail multiple times at lighting it. The jitters in her hands prevented any flame from sticking when she pulled on her mana. Before she could protest, he took the pipe from her grasp. A simple flick of his finger and the pipe was lit. He took a hit and handed it back to her.

“Careful.” A smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth as she watched.

“That is quite strong,” he coughed. The smoke curled from his mouth as he tried to breathe through the coughing.

“It’s some of the elfroot my clan sent. It helps with the pain. But I always want to take a nap if I smoke too much.”

 “I can help with that, if you’d like.”

“Hmm?”

“Your back pain and I can assure you there will be no fingers in your mouth.”

“A shame,” she muttered.

He covered his smirk with a cough, each of them knowing he heard what she said. “I know a spell that can help. If you’d like I could show you?”

Raven leaned forward, her pipe dangling from her lips. She had to resist the urge to shiver as his hand wormed his way under her clothes and touched her back. Something about the simple touch lit a fire in her, and she had to resist the urge to try and push him further. But before she could even think about composing herself or will the heat from her cheeks to disappear, his mana pushed into her.

“By the gods…oh fuuuuck,” she moaned. Her muscles felt like jelly. All her aches and pains slid away as Solas’ mana coursed through her body. She melted against his side, as his mana dug deep into her back.

A smirk danced at the corner of his lips, as she came apart next to him. He could feel Bull’s gaze lingering on the two of them. He couldn’t tell if he saw a smirk or a grimace on Bull’s face. Either didn’t matter. With one last graze against the softness of her skin, he pulled his hand out and returned it to his lap. Hers snaked under his arm and along his wrist, to tangle her fingers within his.

“I could get used to this,” she purred. Raven felt herself slowly start to drift off, the remnants of his mana curling through her.

_I could too_.


End file.
